The Denver Broncos’ pass rush forced Tom Brady into one of the worst games of his career on Sunday, yet the New England Patriots still had a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime. Did Brady miss a wide open Rob Gronkowski on his team’s final play?
After finding Gronkowski for a touchdown on 4th down, Brady threw an interception on the ensuing 2-point conversion attempt. The Pats quarterback was pressured for about the 100th time on the play and tried to force it into Julian Edelman. He may have missed a better option running across the end zone.
Gronk was wide open on the 2-pt try. Brady looked him off: pic.twitter.com/VCXheI6v24
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) January 24, 2016
It’s easy to blame Brady for missing Gronkowski, but the overhead still shot doesn’t always tell the entire story. There were three defenders underneath Gronk and all three were in the passing lane. Unless Brady floated up a perfect pass on the run, there’s a good chance one of those defenders would have been able to make a play on the ball.
There are plenty of reasons Patriots fans should feel like they let one slip away, and the 2-point conversion is one of them. We listed that and all the others here. Still, Gronkowski was not quite as wide open as some are making him out to be.
